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PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has demanded a new investigation into the culling of Australian sheep in Karachi, during a meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Pervez Ashraf.

But she has stopped short of endorsing animal rights activists' calls for an end to the live export trade, saying the industry was already acting on the shocking slaughter footage.

Her intervention came as outrage over the culling of thousands of Australian sheep in Pakistan sparked division in the federal government, with Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig at loggerheads with his backbench.

Labor MP Kelvin Thomson yesterday rejected Senator Ludwig's claims the slaughter was "isolated" and slammed the system set up following last year's Indonesian cattle controversy.

The industry has voluntarily suspended exports to Pakistan and Bahrain pending a government investigation into new footage showing 21,000 sheep being killed, including some being buried alive. Pakistani officials said it was necessary because of health concerns but Australia rejected the claims.

After meeting Mr Ashraf in Laos, Ms Gillard said she was concerned by the "graphic and very cruel images".

"I explained to him that Australians are distressed to see these acts of cruelty and that I want the matter investigated," she said. "He responded that he would investigate."

The opposition attacked Labor's "knee-jerk" halt to the live cattle trade to Indonesia, saying it threatened the livelihood of Australian farmers and harmed relations with Jakarta.

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